1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of swapping auxiliary storage devices using a suspend mode, and more particularly to a method of conducting a warm swap of auxiliary storage devices such as a HDD, CDD and FDD using a suspend mode and a resume mode so that the swapping of auxiliary storage devices can be conducted without turning the main power of a computer off.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an earlier method of enabling the swapping of auxiliary storage devices in a computer, all programs must be exited and the computer turned off to swap auxiliary storage devices such as HDDs, CDDs and FDDs. The power of the computer is first turned OFF. Subsequently, swapping of the auxiliary storage devices in an auxiliary storage bay of the computer is mechanically performed by the user, after which the power of the computer is turned back on. By the application of power to the computer, the same is rebooted such that a CPU of the computer recognizes the change in the auxiliary storage device.
However, such a method of swapping auxiliary storage devices is time consuming and troublesome. Further, all programs in use must be ended before the computer is turned off, additionally, increasing the amount of time required for this process and causing an extra nuisance to the user.
The following patents each disclose features in common with the present invention but do not teach or suggest the specifically recited method of swapping auxiliary storage devices using a suspend mode in accordance with the present invention: U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,368 to Chan et al., entitled PC Card Controller Circuit To Detect Exchange Of PC Cards While In Suspend Mode, U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,493 to Shu, entitled Docking Detection And Suspend Circuit For Portable Computer/Expansion Chassis Docking System, U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,119 to Jeffries et al., entitled Local Proactive Hot Swap Request/Acknowledge System, U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,987 to Quackenbush et al., entitled Hot Plug Port Adapter With Separate PCI Local Bus And Auxiliary Bus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,491 to Jeffries et al., entitled Local Proactive Hot Swap Request/Acknowledge System, U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,834 to McKinley et al., entitled Hot Reconfigurable Parallel Bus Bridging Circuit, U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,547 to Boesch et al, entitled Method And Apparatus For Providing A Portable Computer With Hot Pluggable Modular Bays, U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,103 to Oh, entitled Circuit For Replacing A Peripheral Device Of A Computer System And Method Therefor, U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,798 to Beatty et al, entitled Method And Apparatus For Providing Hot Swapping Capability In A Computer System With Static Peripheral Driver Software, U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,510 to Verseput et al., entitled Automatic Computer Card Insertion And Removal Algorithm, U.S. Pat. No. 4,999,787 to McNally et al., entitled Hot Extraction And Insertion Of Logic Boards In An On-Line Communication System, U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,539 to Gephardt et al., entitled Apparatus And Method For Achieving Hot Docking Capabilities For A Dockable Computer System, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,020 to Gephardt et al., entitled System For Docking A Portable Computer To A Host Computer Without Suspending Processor Operation By A Docking Agent Driving The Bus Inactive During Docking.